Means for securing a bearing to a shaft



Dec. 24, 1940. R. F. RUNGE arm.

MEANS FOR SECURING A BEARING TO A SHAFT Filed NOV. 21, 1939 S m Y i T d E mRm B WP m T. I A bk or RE M T BY Jhq Patented Dec. 24, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR SECURING A BEARING TO A SHAFT ware Application November 21, 1939, Serial No. 305,418

3 Claims.

This invention relates to means for securing parts together and to means for securing a ring in position on a shaft and more particularly to securing a bearing ring in proper position on a shaft.

In assembling rings together and especially when these rings are mounted on a shaft, difflculty is often experienced in that the locking devices do not quickly grasp one another, and if these are'mounted on a shaft when they are turned in opposite directions. Especially is this so if the device has been locked by movement in one direction and it is desired to lock it by movement in the opposite direction, considerable slippage is apt to take place. It has also been found that it is difficult to provide a ring, as for instance a bearing ring, with a mounting device the parts of which, when having been placed in proper position, will stay that way whether mounted upon a shaft or not.

To effect convenient assembly, bearings and other parts are sometimes made with the inside diameter larger than the shaft diameter. Our invention is a device for locking the inner race of such hearings to a rotating shaft. .The device locks the bearing against rotation on the shaft and against axial motion on the shaft. This locking is accomplished without the usual flanges, holes, flats, or any other departures from a plain cylindrical shaft; nor is interference fit used between 'any part and the shaft.

In the drawing accompanying and forming part of this application, one practicable embodiment of our invention is illustrated in which drawing Figure 1 shows in section a form of the device mounted on a short length of shaft.

Figure 2 is a section taken at about the line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 3 is a section of the locking member removed.

Figure 4 is a face view of the icon, or looking cam, and

Figure 5 is a sectional view of two rings and the Icon during the locking movement.

In the accompanying drawing the part to be locked is illustrated as a self aligning ball bearing 1, but may be any other type of plain or anti friction bearing. The part used to accomplish the locking is a well known set collar It held to the shaft by screws 32. The method used to lock the bearing 1 to the set collar l8 and in turn to a rotating shaft 2| constitutes our invention and is described as follows:

Axial locking is accomplished by the use of the intermediate part l3 between part It and part I; this part l3 having been placed in a keyway 23 of part I. In this case we have chosen to call this part l3, it may be a cam, a icon, and it and the keyway are parallel with the end of the ring. This part may be held in the groove by one or more hammer blows applied to the outer portion 23 of the side of the groove. The assembly of i6 and I is accomplished as shown in Figure 5 and will, after mounting of the unit on a shaft, axially lock together hearing I and collar IS. The collar It has formed in it a cam groove l4 parallel with its end.

Rotational locking is accomplished by the utilization of the well known mechanical phenomenon known as rolling, whereby a bearing having a bore larger than the shaft and sublected to onedirectional load will rotate slower than the shaft itself, if left free to do so. By making the radius r in groove l4 housing part i3 smaller than radius n of bore l5, only a limited rotation of bearing 1 on shaft 28 can take place before the crest of part l3 will lock against the bottom of groove l4 and since the phenomenon of rolling, that is the efforts of part I to creep around the shaft 28 will continue as long as the bearing is loaded and rotated, and the locking will also be continuous and automatic. The continued efforts of part 1 to creep around shaft 28 while part It is locked, due to the wedge angle formed by the radius r soon after rotation has begun, create a heavy tension between points a and b. This continuous and heavy tension is locking part I to part 28. As the effort of rolling is proportionate to the bearing load, so is the effort of locking proportionate to the effort of rolling and the wedge angle formed by radius 1'.

Since the surfaces of locking are small the gyratory motion of part 1 will not loosen the screws holding the collar ii to the shaft.

By proper dimensioning of bore IS in relation to the distance between the crest of part l3 and the corner 30 of part I, an interference fit is established at that point of assembly as shown in Figure 5. This makes the parts I and it self contained and they, when properly placed together, will under normal handling not become separated before being mounted on a shaft.

Although but one form of our invention has been shown in the drawing, yet it will be app rent that changes may be made within the scope of our claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination with a shaft, of a ring round on its outer side and mounted on the shaft and carrying on its outer side parallel with its end and projecting beyond its said outer side and an outwardly directed loon or cam, a second ring also mounted on the shaft and having approximately the bore of the first mentioned ring and having a round part for overlying the part of the said first mentioned ring which carries the loon or cam, there being formed in the inner surface of its overlying part a cam groove parallel with its end, and of much less radius than the radius of such part for receiving and acting upon the said loon or cam.

2. The combination with a shaft, of a ring round on the outside and mounted on the shaft and having upon its outer side and parallel with and projecting beyond its end a loon or cam facing in both directions, a second ring also mounted on a shaft and having approximately the bore of the first mentioned ring and having a round part for overlying a part of the said first mentioned ring, said overlying part being of almost the same inside diameter as said outer side of the first mentioned ring whereby one snaps into the other, there being formed in the inner surface of its overlying part a cam groove facing in both directions and disposed parallel with the end of the ring, it being of much less radius than the radius of such part for receiving and acting upon the said loon or cam.

3. The combination with a ring adapted to be mounted on a shaft and having its outer side round and having parallel with and projecting beyond its said outer side a loon or cam, of a second ring adapted to be mounted on the same shaft and having a rounded part for overlying the round part of the said first mentioned ring, said overlying part being of almost the same diameter as thesaid outer side of the first mentioned ring, there being formed in the inner surface of the overlying part a cam groove of much less radius than the radius of such part facing in both directions and disposed parallel with the end of the ring for receiving and acting upon the said loon or cam for locking said rings on said shaft and for holding them in their assembly before being mounted on the shaft.

ERIC C. BRODIN. ROBERT F. RUNGE. 

